Community Service Award

The Community Service Award recognizes public agencies and community groups who have contributed significantly to environmental responsibility.

Recipients

Les Amis de la Montagne (2017)

Montreal and the Mont-Royal are indivisible. With its three peaks, this iconic location is affectionally referred to as "the mountain" and spreads over ten square kilometers. It boasts beautiful residential neighborhoods, several founding institutions of Montreal - hospitals, universities, religious communities, vast cemeteries, numerous neighborhood parks, and the magnificent Mount Royal Park covering a spacious and attractive green area of nearly 200 hectares overlooking downtown Montreal. Since 1986, Les amis de la montagne have played an active role in protecting and enhancing Mount Royal. Declared a heritage site by the Government of Quebec, much of the mountain enjoys several safeguards that guide the development of its land and buildings. As the city that surrounds it is thriving, the mountain is constantly feeling the pressure of densification and urban development. With the support of a community of people who are aware of the inestimable worth of Mount Royal, Les amis de la montagne contribute to further strengthen the culture of respect and long-term protection of this place.

2016 - SOVERDI

SOVERDI, the Société de verdissement du Montréal Métropolitain, is an NPO established in 1992 with the mission of ‘greening-up’ the Montreal landscape by planting the right tree in the right place. Its action aims to significantly increase the urban forest and to "democratize green" to improve the health and quality of life of Montrealers. A leader in urban greening, Soverdi favours a participatory approach to its interventions. The communities and local stakeholders are all invited to join together as agents of change and take part in Montreal’s great green alleyways project. Commissioned by the city of Montreal, SOVERDI coordinates the planting of trees on private and institutional properties referred to in the Canopy Action Plan (PAC). It brought together 40 partners under the Alliance forêt urbaine, the largest consultation table in Montreal for the planting of trees, in order to meet the ambitious challenge of planting 180,000 trees over the next ten years for the benefit of all Montrealers. In 2015, 10,000 trees were thus planted under the Urban Forest Action Plan, through more than 100 different projects. A significant undertaking, which was successfully accomplished thanks to the collaboration of our partners in the Alliance, the ‘A tree for my neighborhood’ campaign, various greening packages offered in industrial and commercial districts as well as other projects carried out on school boards’ and health care properties. Robert Norman and Pierre Bélec (Photo: J. Landry)

Ecology Action Centre (2012)

The Ecology Action Centre is a member-based charity in Nova Scotia taking leadership on critical issues from biodiversity to climate change to environmental justice.

2012 - Elinor Gill Ratcliffe

Elinor Gill Ratcliffe is known as a humanist, builder, dreamer, visionary and philanthropist. First and foremost, however, she is a proud descendant of generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. She grew up in St. John’s and, in 1974, she moved to Ontario where she met and married Edward Ratcliffe, founder of Arriscraft International. They shared a passion for helping the disadvantaged and, through their company, funded numerous projects in Canada and other parts of the world. Ms. Gill Ratcliffe graduated from Bishop Spencer College and continued her education in various institutions over the years. Ms. Gill Ratcliffe has also been involved with, and supported, various organizations and projects in Newfoundland. She has provided start-up funding for the Send Them Back Smiling Project of the Single Parent Association of Newfoundland and Labrador for the purchase of school supplies and has donated to The Bowring Park Foundation for the reconstruction of the duck pond. She is also a benefactor to The Rooms, the reconstruction of Fort Amherst, as well as the George Street United Church soup kitchen project, just to highlight a few. She has gained distinction by her genuine interest in and support of local initiatives, as well as her constant efforts to enrich the cultural heritage of her birthplace.

Photo: Elinor Gill Ratcliffe

2011 - Iqaluit Greenhouse Society

The Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society is a not-for-profit organization established in 2001 by residents who wished to build and operate a community greenhouse. Located at 63° 45′ 5″ N and 68° 31′ 24″ W, the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse is above the treeline on Baffin Island.

2011 - Bill Mackenzie Humanitarian Society

The Bill Mackenzie Humanitarian Society is responsible for the Compost Iqaluit groundroots community movement. Since 2004, the Society has been encouraging the diverting of organics in the North.